Last week I tackled clothing + accessories, this week was supposed to be accessories.  Oops… looks like I’m an over-achiever.  Because we don’t have a “master” bathroom (only 1.5 baths in the whole house) I don’t really keep my jewelry and whatnot in there anyway, but I do have plenty of other stuff I can organize and purge.

You’ve probably heard that everything in your bathroom has an expiration date, but, like most people, don’t really care.  If you’re trying to crack down on your household organization though, it’s time to care (added bonus is that you won’t have to worry about nasties growing in your toiletries).

The quick-n-dirty guide is as follows:

• You haven’t used it in 12 months
• It’s past the expiration date
• It’s empty or nearly empty
• You don’t need it any longer

Even if you’re still using it, my understanding of cosmetics is pretty much if it’s older than a year, it’s time to replace it.  Not too hard, right?  If you’re deposing of medication, try calling your pharmacy to find out what the disposal guidelines are.  I sat on some Vicodin left over from my wisdom teeth surgery for years because I had no clue what to do with it.  Another note about medication–if you can try and store it somewhere not the bathroom.  Lower humidity and minimal temperature variance tend to be better for just about anything with an expiration date.

This is everything I did away with.  Daaaang it feel good!

And I tidied up the bathroom closet because it was starting to get a little jumbled.  I’m working on our hallway closet too, but that’s still a little bit of a dumping ground.

I’ve also finally developed a system for quick and easy bathroom cleaning.  Seriously. You’ll still want to rotate in a deeper clean occasionally, but for for your average cleaning or oh shit my mother-in-law will be here in 5 minutes moments this is pretty sweet.

First I squirt some cleaner in the toilet bowl to give it time to sit and work its magic.  Next I spray some windex on the mirror and an all-purpose cleaner on the sink, tub, and toilet (or any other surfaces you may have in the bathroom). Then, working from cleanest to dirtiest (ie mirror, sink, tub, toilet) I give everything a good wipe-down with a micro-fiber cloth.  Toss that cloth in the laundry, scrub out the inside of the toilet bowl and BAM done.  All in around 5 minutes.  I have it ever so slightly easier because of the claw-foot tub (ie no tub surround), but even wiping down tiles or shower doors shouldn’t add a ton of extra effort.